The subject matter disclosed herein relates to an apparatus or tool for holding and applying torque to a nut, e.g., in a sensor port of a flow cell.
Flow meters, including ultrasonic flow meters, employ sensors to determine the characteristics (e.g., flow rate, pressure, temperature, etc.) of liquids, gases, etc. flowing in conduits of different sizes and shapes. Knowledge of these characteristics of the fluid can enable other physical properties or qualities of the fluid to be determined. For example, in some custody-transfer applications, the flow rate can be used to determine the volume of a fluid (e.g., oil or gas) being transferred from a seller to a buyer through a conduit to determine the costs for the transaction, where the volume is equal to the flow rate multiplied by the cross sectional area of the conduit.
A sensor can be installed in a sensor port of a flow cell using an insert body that is mounted within the sensor port. In some installations, the insert body is fixed in the sensor port using threaded nuts that are inserted into the sensor port and tightened proximate to the insert body. In many installations, the significant length of the sensor port requires that the threaded nuts be mounted onto the end of the shaft of a tool, which is extended into the sensor port until the threaded nut reaches the desired installation location. Similarly, when the threaded nuts are removed, the threaded nuts are loosened and removed by the end of the shaft of the tool which is extended into and then pulled back out of the sensor port. Existing tools for accomplishing the insertion and removal of the threaded nuts include ribs on the distal end of a shaft that mate with the keyways of the threaded nuts. When these ribs become worn or otherwise damaged, the tool cannot reliably retain or apply torque to the threaded nut on the end of the shaft, causing the nut to fall off of the shaft of the tool and become lodged in the sensor port. Additionally, given the potential differences in dimensions between different tools and different threaded nuts caused by manufacturing tolerances, the ribs on the shaft do not always reliably retain or apply torque to the threaded nut on the end of the shaft.
The discussion above is merely provided for a general background information and is not intended to be used as an aid in determining the scope of the claimed subject matter.